Romantic Notions of Bygone Eras

There is no new revelation in saying that today as consumers we desire more from our purchases. Brands are constantly competing with each other to offer products that instantly become treasured possessions.

Translating across all elements of design, this notion can be seen emerging mainly within the interior and home sector. Home trends suggest that it is a time for products to be made with love and evoke the romance and design from bygone eras.

One such furniture designer, Katie Thompson, has jumped onto this trend feet first with her ‘Recreate’ range, made from extraordinary antiques.

Graduating with a distinction in interior design, Thompson has over seven years experience in furniture design. This beautifully imagined collection shows Thompson at her best with an unconventional marriage of antiques and functionality.

As we enter 2011 we begin to value crafted pieces with a new appreciation for meaningful design. Katie Thompson is but one designer that fits this trend perfectly.

Trend predictions suggest that 2011 will be the year for the emergence of classic adaptation.

Judging by Thompson’s elegant, functional and well-designed furniture, I for one am looking forward to seeing more and more.

Katie Thomspon's Website

A change is gonna come...

After hearing Rebecca Ferguson sing 'A change is gonna come' in her audition for the X factor, I seriously can't get enough of the song!

I'd never heard the song before, but now it's my number one search on spotify. Sam Cooke's version is lovely, but I have to admit I think Rebecca sang it beautifully.

I'm not a big music buff, I don't really know much about songs, writers or versions of songs. All I know is 'A change is gonna come' is now one of my favourite songs - thanks to Rebecca.

Check out both the versions and see what you think:

Rebecca Ferguson

Sam Cooke

One ticket to space please.

At school, Science was always one of my favourite subjects, Physics in particular. Now working in PR, I never really get the chance to explore this interest as much as I would like. There is always the odd programme on TV covering amazing facts about the Universe and our planet, but the images on my normal, everyday TV will never do it justice.

Last weekend I decided to take a trip to Greenwich with my boyfriend to visit the planetarium. Surprisingly, even with such a a big interest in science, this was my first visit.

To be fair, the museum was standard, with the usual school kids running around, and the odd interactive screen. But the real amazement was the observatory. The latest showing was 'The Violent Universe", narrated by Patrick Stewart (Good Ol' Paddy).

It's quite difficult to explain, but you basically lay back in a seat looking up at a big dome, which then plays the film. The amazing view you get of space and our Universe is pretty astounding. For a mere £6.50 it is definitely worth the money!

All that is left for me to do now is to buy myself a ticket to space. I wonder if Richard Branson will give me a free ticket.

London Planetarium

Not another one...

There has been various points in my fashion head that I have worried about bumping into someone wearing the same top, dress, jacket or complete outfit. Don't get me wrong I love Topshop, but it has multiplied the possibility that next time I go out in a new dress I can't wait to wear, there is a high chance someone else will be wearing it too.

Going to uni in a small town also meant there was a risk of what I like to call a double take. Whenever the high street stores brought in new stock you could guarantee you would see it a few times that night. Coming to London I thought this would be so unlikely to ever happen! It's so big, with some many different stores and places to shop, it's truly unlucky to double take.

Unfortunately for me, last year I was victim to a double take extravaganza. Wearing a red rose dress from Topshop it didn't cross my mind that I could bump into the same outfit. But I did...eight times over. A funny situation at a day festival where at every turn I saw my outfit. We all seemed to have the same tactic look down and pretend you didn't see it.

Since then I haven't done much shopping, not out of choice but out of shortage of funds. In other words...skint. For the pieces in my wardrobe at the moment it's safe to say they are at least a year old, meaning my worry of encountering someone else in the same dress had become a by-gone. Until I met a few friends for drinks and one of their colleagues was wearing the same outfit as me, a three year old summer dress. Not only have I never seen anyone else wearing it when it was new out, I hardly wear it myself. It just happened to be the last clean thing left!

After laughing about it and deciding on days when each can wear it (joke), it made me think why it really matters. Why do I worry whether I'll be the only one in the room wearing that dress, or top or shoes. Is it because I strive to stand out, be different....unique. Or am I just embarrassed? All I know is that the clashing of dresses can't be a bad thing. All it did was make me realise I had more in common with this woman than I thought. Surely the answer is to stop shopping at Topshop and such places. But we all know that's not going to happen.

SNAP 'APPY

Remember the good old days when a night out wasn't taken up by you and your friends taking numerous pictures of each other?
Don't get me wrong, I love going out with my friends! We always have a fun night and the next morning usually consists of lying in bed looking through our pictures whilst nursing a hangover. Normally a weekend ritual.

Most people will agree that in a picture of a group of friends there is always someone who is not happy with the way it turned out. Immediatley after the snap everyone wants to take a look. I am also guilty of shouting to my friend 'Lets have a look!'. But, in my opinion, this is now taking up too much time on a night out. I want to chat and dance with my friends, not work out how best to stand/smile/ pose.

But I don't want to loose the memorabilia from the night out. Solution...disposable camera.

Pro Disposal:
- You won't have to take the same picture over, and over, and over again
- You can look forward to getting them developed and seeing how they turned out
- You can now get the images put straight onto a disc- so, don't worry, facebook won't suffer
- You don't risk breaking/loosing that expensive camera you got for your birthday
- There's satisfaction in winding it on
- Conversation starter

Con Disposal:
- Not great for keeping in a clutch bag
- You have to squint and put your eye to the hole
- Your friends see flashing lights for a few minutes after the picture has been taken

After my digital camera broke on a night out and all the pictures looked like the Matrix, I decided I didn't want to be the one responsible for the picture taking anymore. Does anyone?

But, things are about to change, I have every plan to buy a disposable camera for my approaching weekend and ultimately convert the massive.

'ISTA'

If you pick up any magazine off the shelf these days I can guarantee that somewhere among one of the articles, or written across one of the pages, will be the words 'fashionista'! I don't really understand where this word has come from, but the fact that adding 'ista' to the end of a perfectly normal word qualifies it to be a national phenomenon is beyond me.

I remember in one of my lectures last year one of our tutors (who had previously given us a two hour lecture on how colour makes you feel) decided that this week was going to be on Grazia - one of the first magazines to start using the 'word'. My tutor loved it and managed to squeeze into every conversation and lecture since. Soon it seemed the word was everywhere!

I had finally accepted that perhaps a word was needed to describe a designer or a fashion devotee and that the word of choice was Fashionista. Until 'Recessionista' became the new word! Used to descibe a fashion lover who bargain hunts during the credit crunch and recession the word has worryingly started to catch on. The only good thing, in my opinion, that comes from the new 'ista' is that I now have a new most hated word.

Still...I plan to avoid using any kind of 'ista'...fashion or otherwise.